I’ve bought a lot of Epiphones at this point. Some have been great, some have needed to go straight back in the box they came in. So when I ordered the new Les Paul Futura Custom in Firestorm Shift, I wasn’t expecting much beyond “hopefully this one doesn’t have issues.” What showed up genuinely surprised me, and I think it might be the best out of the box experience I’ve had from Epiphone yet.
These normally retail at $899 and come in three main colors: Firestorm Shift, Midnight Ember Shift and Twilight Shift.
Here’s my first look and sound demo. Full review coming soon.
Fit and Finish Right Out of the Box
No tool marks on the fretboard. No fret ends hanging off the edge of the neck. Every fret smooth and level. The finish is clean with nothing I’d call an imperfection.
That might not sound like a big deal, but it is when you know my history with this brand. My Inspired by Gibson Custom Shop Cobra Burst, which is supposed to be one of Epiphone’s higher end offerings, and my Epiphone Prophecy, which I ended up sending back entirely for quality issues, both had problems this guitar simply doesn’t have. My replacements on those were solid, but the Futura beat them out of the gate, no replacement needed.
The only thing I’d flag is the action sat a little high for my taste out of the box. Nothing that stopped me from playing it, just something I dialed in with a minor adjustment.
I ordered mine through Sweetwater and got it for $800, down from the $899 list price. Worth noting because these are hot right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still negotiate on a new guitar. I did, and it worked.
That Firestorm Shift Finish
I’ll be upfront that this is just my opinion, but the Firestorm Shift finish might be one of my favorite Les Paul finishes I own. It’s a color shifting finish, and depending on the angle and light it can look like a modern take on a gold top, then you move it slightly and it shifts into a deep orange. It photographs and films differently every time depending on how the light hits it, which honestly makes it a fun guitar to shoot on camera.
Both the body and neck have a gloss finish, and I’m someone who doesn’t mind the feel of a gloss neck. It’s smooth, comfortable, and makes for an enjoyable playing experience whether I’m sitting down working out parts or standing up and playing it like I mean it.
Specs That Punch Above the Price
For $899 retail, the spec sheet on this thing is loaded:
- Stainless steel frets, and that’s a big selling point
- Graph Tech nut
- 10 to 14 inch compound radius fretboard
- Grover locking Rotomatic tuners
- Tune-O-Matic bridge
- Modern contoured heel for real access to the upper frets, which is a genuinely useful feature and not just a marketing bullet point
- Ebony fretboard with those split block inlays, which look sharp in person
- Modern C neck profile, which fit my hand well. I do lean toward thinner necks generally, but this wasn’t a dealbreaker by any stretch
- Weight relief that keeps it reasonable on a strap. Mine comes in at 8 pounds 9 ounces and it’s comfortable whether I’m sitting or standing
This is a genuinely loaded spec sheet for the price, and the kind of thing that makes me want to rethink what “budget” even means in this segment.
The ProBucker Ignite Pickups
The new ProBucker Ignite humbuckers are Epiphone’s higher output take on their PAF style ProBucker, built to add some extra heat and aggression while trying to hold onto clarity as you push the gain. You also get push/pull volume and tone pots for coil splitting and phase switching, so there’s more tonal range on tap than just humbucker on, humbucker off.
They’ve got a nice distorted sound, and I like that. However, where I ran into trouble was on the bridge pickup. My amp settings had a bit too much bass dialed in, which ended up burying some of that articulation Epiphone talks up in their marketing. My first sound demo take reflected that, since I don’t typically spend a ton of time dialing in amp settings for a demo like that.
Once I actually sat down and adjusted my amp, the bridge tightened up and sounded a lot better, and that adjustment ended up helping the tone on my other guitars too. So not really a mark against the pickups themselves, more a reminder that these want a slightly different amp approach than what I was already running.
The neck pickup is a different story. Cleans through the neck position sound great.
Stacked up against my other guitars, I still prefer the Burstbucker Pro Plus in my Gibson Les Paul Modern over the Ignite set. But compared to the stock 490 pickups in my Inspired by Gibson Custom Shop model, I’d take the Ignites. They’re supposed to be versatile enough to cover a wide range of styles, and based on what I’ve heard so far, that tracks.
Where This Sits Against the Prophecy
It’s worth bringing up Epiphone’s other modern take on the Les Paul, the Prophecy line. I’m talking about the refresh that came out in 2020 and beyond. Those guitars leaned hard into the metal crowd, custom voiced Fishman Fluence pickups, 24 frets, built for speed and high gain. I played one for a while and never fell in love with it. In my opinion, only the black finish really looked good, and the rest never quite clicked visually for me the way the Futura lineup does.
The Futura feels like it’s aiming somewhere different. It’s not chasing one genre or one type of player the way the Prophecy was. It’s more of an all arounder, built for anyone who wants a modern Les Paul without being boxed into a metal focused spec sheet.
Would I go as far as to say Gibson is going to bring a Futura line to their own catalog? That’s pure speculation on my part, nothing I’ve heard, just a hunch. But given how well received these Epiphone Futura models seem to be so far, I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if Gibson eventually borrows this playbook down the line.
The Not So Great Parts
Nothing here is a dealbreaker, but a few things are worth knowing before you buy.
It only ships with a softshell case. For a guitar at this spec level I’d have liked to see a hardshell case included, but then it would probably cost another $100.
I also prefer keystone tuners over the kidney bean style tuning pegs on this one, though they do look fine on the guitar overall, just a personal preference.
The headstock is going to turn some people off, and I get it. Epiphone makes Les Paul Modern models with genuinely great specs, but the headstock on those is less than desired. However, once you put the Gibson style custom inlay and that pinstripe binding running around the edge of the headstock on a guitar like this, it just looks so much better in my opinion. If you can’t get past an Epiphone headstock on principle, no spec sheet is going to change your mind, and that’s fine.
I’m still on the fence about the chrome pickup housings. I like the modern spin on the classic Les Paul look overall, but there’s a part of me that still gravitates toward the classic black pickup covers. Small thing, but it’s there. I’ll probably pull the pickguard off at some point too just to see how it looks without it.
And the usual disclaimer with Epiphone, these are made in China and quality control isn’t always consistent. My Prophecy is proof of that. You can get a lemon from anywhere though, and this particular guitar happened to be the best QC experience I’ve had from the brand yet.
Should You Buy It?
At $800 to $900 new, this is a solid price for what you’re getting, and I’d expect some genuinely good deals once used ones start hitting the market. I’ve been a longtime advocate for the ESP LTD EC-1000 series as the best bang for your buck in a Les Paul style guitar, stainless steel frets, real pickup options, made in Korea. But LTD prices have been creeping up, and looking at everything packed into the Futura at this price point, it’s got me rethinking that recommendation.
If you’re a Les Paul guy, if you want a modern take on the shape without spending a fortune, or if you just want a new guitar loaded with features from a name brand without breaking the bank, this is a strong pick. Even if you’ve already got more expensive guitars in your collection, this is still a fun one to have in the arsenal.
If you’re the type who sees the word Epiphone and immediately writes it off, you weren’t buying this guitar anyway, and that’s fine too. For everyone else, this one’s worth a serious look.
Links
Shop Futura Guitars at Reverb (affiliate link)
Epiphone Futura Guitars
